Makalidurga Fort

This is a nearly 4 km trek that starts after a railway crossing near the Makalidurga Railway Station.

Story

The plan

It was a normal Friday evening and I was bored of two things-Delhi's extreme summers (the month of June was really hot ☀️) and work, because it had been a really tiring week. I was traveling to Bangalore the coming Monday, so I was going to get a break from the former. For the latter, I started a random huddle with the team and began chit-chatting. We discussed how everyone was doing and what our plans were for the coming weekend. Out of nowhere, Himanshu said, "Let's go for a trek next weekend," and we ended up saying yes instantly.

After some people said no and some said maybe, it was the four of us-Aditi, Shania, Himanshu, and me-who agreed to it. We went ahead with the booking for the trek via the Karnataka government's tourism website, and that was all. A quick discussion, and the plan was set. Even after multiple attempts to onboard someone with a car, we failed miserably and decided to take a Zoomcar. After wasting a few hours on Zoomcar, spanning multiple days, and delaying until Thursday night, we finally booked a car-a Maruti Swift-parked somewhere near Bommanahalli.

The execution

We planned to start at 2:30 AM, get the car by 3, and reach the destination by 6 AM at the latest. Everyone had to sleep very early that day.

The pickup plan went smoothly. Himanshu picked me up from my place, and then we went to the car pickup location together. After collecting the keys from the sleeping guards, the car pickup was done by 3:30 AM.

After that, we headed to Aditi's place and then Shania's. We encountered a few speed bumps along the way, which gave Himanshu and me a good laugh.

We had put on Google Maps to guide us to Makalidurga, and it showed us a route via a narrow road that Shania warned us not to take. She said the road was not safe and should be avoided. Completely ignoring Shania's advice, we followed Google Maps and saw something really odd-a dead dog lying upside-down in a very strange way. It had all four legs straight up. It didn't feel like a natural death for sure-one of those dark moments at the very beginning. Ignoring the dog and laughing at starting with such a bad omen, we continued our journey.

It was still dark, and I was struggling with fog on the windshield. I had to switch the defogger on and off about 50 times. The weather outside was so pleasant and breezy that we didn't want to turn on the air conditioner and kept our windows rolled down. A large portion of the highway was a single lane with no dividers, so I ended up not driving above 80 and just enjoyed it. We reached the base point of the trek around 5:20 AM. There was a large parking area next to the railway track, set up by a nearby resort facility. We parked the car there but were still nearly 30 minutes early. People are usually not allowed to start before 6:00 AM.

We went ahead and tried our luck to start early. After crossing the railway tracks and getting our bookings verified by a tourism rep, we were allowed to enter and start the trek.

Here is a snap of how dark it was when we started the trek.

The trek was rocky. We had to climb barren rocks repeatedly.

It was Aditi's first trek (after a failed attempt to Skandagiri where she was denied entry without a ticket). She was really excited about it, but the excitement didn't last very long. It was replaced by some breathlessness and confusion around where to place her foot to climb the next rock. The hill began testing everyone's cardiac health.

I have been in similar states and maybe even worse, being the most unhealthy guy far from any kind of sports or exercise. Going to the gym was my only activity, but it was always about building muscles and not getting fitter. It reminded me of my visits to Triund and Skandagiri. Among my friends, I was the slowest and used to stop after every few meters to catch my breath. It was really tough for me.

This time, it was a bit different, though. I had been planning to go for a trek near Mt. Rinjani and had been exercising to prepare for it since it's a difficult one. I had been going on long running sessions multiple times a week. As a result, my heart rate was normal, and I was able to climb without much effort. In the middle, I tried rushing up the hill but quickly ran out of breath and realized that my training was not over yet and I still had a long way to go.

There were some stretches with really big, slippery rocks that required us to bend down and climb them. I remember those because on one of them, Aditi got stuck, unable to climb up or go back down. Following the basic human nature, Himanshu and I had a good laugh. Eventually, we did help her though.

After an hour and a half of climbing, we finally made it to the top. It was around 7 AM.

The place was not very crowded (unlike other treks near Bangalore). We didn't have to struggle much to find a spot to sit and relax.

Prior to starting the journey, I visited the Shell petrol pump in Koramangala, which is known for its night cafe. Even at 2:30 AM, the place was full of people, and it felt like I was standing outside a college where everyone was just leaving for home. I got some chips and chocolates for us. I felt that after climbing the hill, we had kind of earned the right to eat junk food :P

Besides the people, we were also accompanied by two stray dogs looking for food. I tried to imagine how they had climbed those rough rocks.

The view from the top looked like this:

And the one with the doggo:

The weather was perfect, with strong winds brushing against our skin. After spending an hour or so, and fearing the sun coming up and us getting tanned, we started our journey back to the car.

Going back downhill ended up being more time-consuming for us than going up. For me personally, I have never had trouble coming back from the hills/mountains (again be it Skandgiri or Triund). I was always able to descend quickly. I don't know, maybe there's no cardiac strength needed, which is why. Even this time was kind of the same. While going back, we asked ourselves questions like, "Did we really climb up these big rocks?" It was tough to get down. We had to sit down, take side support, and do what not again and again. It was really tough for Aditi too! The rocks were slippery. She actually slipped on one and ended up wounding her hands.

Luckily, she had brought a pack of band-aids (she kind of foresaw it!) She was a bit scared after that and worried that she would slip again.

While descending, we also saw a train heading toward the station, and it was a lovely view. Not as lovely as seeing the Hogwarts Express leaving platform 9³⁄₄, but let's settle for 50% of it. It was a lovely sight to see the small train passing by.

There wew markings on the rocks to guide us well :

We were back to the car around 9:30. The sun was almost coming out of the clouds, and we were so happy that we didn't have to face the heat at all. It was such a relaxing trek!

The track looked like this now:

Coming back was simple; we had breakfast at one of the Udupi-style restaurants. Returning the car was a challenge because there was so much traffic in the city by then. Himanshu and I ended up wasting an hour in traffic just a few hundred meters from the car drop-off point.

It was still a smooth ride.

After taking a cold shower and having a meal from Mumbai Tiffins, I hit the bed and had a really good sleep.

After waking up around 8 PM (perfect for the World Cup final), I didn't even know what day it was or how long I had been sleeping.

That's all. Thanks for reading! This is one of my early attempts at writing, so please bear with me. I promise that I'll improve with time. Thanks again for your time! Sayonara!